News from our grads
Tanya in South Korea for a second year
At Teach International, we often get the most amusing stories from our grads. This one is from a Melbourne grad, Tanya. I am sure many of our readers will relate!
As if they would let me use a sword - this is the best country EVER!!!!
Obviously I was a little nervous returning to Korea for a second year. Most of my friends had left or would be leaving soon. I already knew how cold it was going to get, so the "honeymoon" phase was well and truly over.
And just as I was falling into a "been there done that" slump – they (the wonderful Koreans) put a sword in my hands.
Now, those who know me are aware of how incredibly uncoordinated I am, how easily I fall over, up, and down. But the beauty of living in a country where people don't know you or understand most of what you say is they don't know this. And to be honest, I think when I do something overwhelmingly embarrassing they just assume it's a "foreign thing". Net result: I HAVE A SWORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have started doing sword training once a week in Hapkido (oh and by the way I'm now a RED belt). At first I was a little dubious, there just seemed to be a lot of ducking so as not to hit the roof, and jumping out of the way as I struggled not to hit my own legs. But then our Sabunim said some truly inspirational words that I think could only have been said by a man of wisdom, knowledge and bravery. After doing a tricky little move that involves turning in a circle and waving our swords, our Master looked at us very seriously, and said..."Now, you have just killed six people. Your sword is bloody. You must clean it." And with that he wooshed, wooshed his sword around in a move that instantly brought to mind every awesome martial movie I have ever seen.
Of course, with the appropriate level of respect for tradition, us foreigners let out a muffled "ALL RIGHT!" and expertly copied our master.
All other things are good. My students continue to do enough amusingly cute things to keep me entertained on a daily basis. Some of my students have taken to giving me a password in order to get into the classroom, and out of the classroom, and at one point designed an obstacle course for me to follow. This can be annoying but since the clues to the obstacle course are in English and they are only 8, I am rather frightened on what they might do next if I stop this.
Tanya Penny - Teach International Graduate
